[FEATURE] ensure project node and npm versions

[thibsy]

Hi all,

This is a follow-up on #10034 to add a project .npmrc config, so we can ensure we are all using similar-ish versions of node and npm. See:

• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v11/configuring-npm/package-json#engines
• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v11/using-npm/config#engine-strict

Merging this will set the min-requirement of node v24.0 and npm v11.6 – @mjansenDatabay I assign this to you, since you need to check the chat server.

Kind regards
@thibsy

[thibsy]

If you want to i.e. install the project dependencies or run the JavaScript unit tests with the wrong version of npm or node, the tools will now abort the process and print:

npm error code EBADENGINE
npm error engine Unsupported engine
npm error engine Not compatible with your version of node/npm: [email protected]
npm error notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: [email protected]
npm error notsup Required: {"node":"^24.0.0","npm":"^11.6.0"}
npm error notsup Actual:   {"npm":"10.9.3","node":"v22.20.0"}
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: <npm-log-path>

[mjansenDatabay]

Hi @thibsy ,

I would like to support node v. 22 (LTS), 23 and 24. We successfully tested the chat server against all these versions.

Are there any objections from your side to still supporting the 22 (LTS) version?

Best regards,
Michael

[thibsy]

Hi @mjansenDatabay,

I have some soft objection to using v22 for the following reason:

• It seems like the issue with npm we had concerning platform-specific transitive dependencies is only fixed with v11.6.2, which is included for the v24 version of Node.js. From what I have gathered, the fix commit should be npm/cli@a96d8f6
• Also, there has been an issue with some features of the Node.js test-runner we used, which are fixed in the latest version though.

Node.js v23 is already EOL, so I would not include it in the version range.

Kind regards,
@thibsy